ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to compare the history of government involvement in seismic safety, and compare attitudes towards relative individual or collective responsibility for earthquake preparation and recovery. The degree to which a federal or state government intrudes on the decision-making and risk-taking of the household or individual varies widely in different cultures. At the federal level, earthquakes are subsumed under a broader set of disaster relief policies. The federal government's earthquake recovery efforts have been concentrated mainly on the provision and disbursement of post-disaster relief aid. Since disasters are local events, much of the immediate response is dependent on the planning and capabilities of local agencies. Japanese earthquake policy has focused on three primary areas: on making cities more disaster resistant, strengthening disaster prevention systems and raising disaster prevention awareness and promoting earthquake prediction. Japanese respondents were more likely to believe that the government should be responsible for protecting citizens from losses resulting from earthquakes.
